Broad-based international ambitions aimed at reorienting the globalized system of agricultural development are falling in the face of dominance of multinational enterprises. Nonetheless, taking a bottom-up, “grass roots” approach that supports small farms and farmers would be the best means of fostering positive, broad-based agricultural development and gains, as well as enhancing overall socioeconomic and ecological sustainability, according to the German League for Nature, Animal Protection and Environment.

EarthTalk® is a weekly environmental column made available to our readers from the editors of E/The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that global warming is causing our crops to be less nutritious? – William Persson, Glendale, OH It is difficult to say whether or not the climate change we are now experiencing is negatively impacting the nutritional quality…

Geo-engineering has received a bad rap over the last decade as radical ideas get mixed reviews on the scientific stage. For those not familiar, geo-engineering is a term used to describe a combination of technology, innovation and environmentalism aimed at changing the trajectory of climate change. Historically, geo-engineering has fallen into two categories: solar radiation mitigation and carbon dioxide removal. …

A new Broadband Commission report illustrates “the kind of transformative solutions” information and telecommunications (ICT) and broadband technology can provide to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

This week’s climate change news included the Pacific island nation of Kiribati making relocation plans, UN warnings on growing strains on water supplies and environmental migrations, and Mexico moving forward with a national climate change bill.

Researchers at Australia’s QUT have found a much more accurate means of measuring agricultural emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) , a potent greenhouse gas that’s a significant contributor to total GHG emissions. Based on “groundbreaking data” on N2O emissions from a QUT colleague, QUT Institute for Future Environments Smart Futures Fellow Professor Richard Conant’s new statistical approach improves global N2O emissions estimates by as much as 65%.

Access to freshwater resources has always been a critical need for human and all forms of life on Earth. With a world population estimated at just shy of 7 billion and growing, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says agricultural production will need to increase 70% by 2050. As agriculture takes up most of human water use, that’s going to…